Since you recommend the CF ribbon why did you not elect to include it in the base price, even slightly higher, of the model? Can you just have a button on the gambler page to add it to the shopping cart?

How does the gambler launch/fly without the CF?

I wish I had looked at this seriously because after investing probably $65 in foam cutting equipment I still only have unsheeted wing cores at the moment!

I offer it separately because many people already have CF ribbon as part of their building supplies, and since it is an expensive supply I had requests from eary customers to have the option of not purchasing the carbon fiber. Actually after shipping costs I barely break even on the CF ribbon, that's why I only sell it with the purchase of a kit. If you prefer to order your own, 4 packages of hobby-lobby CCF001 or 2 packages of hobby-lobby CCF002 are sufficent to build the kit.

I've added a button to the Gambler order pages that will allow you to add the carbon fiber to your shopping cart. Thank you for the constructive suggestion.

If you leave off the CF ribbon, I do not reccomend side-arm launching the Gambler. It will, however, javelin launch fine. The CF doesn't affect the flying characteristics of the plane significantly, it just allows the wing and tail to withstand the stresses of the side-arm launch.

There is a good 8MB video of a minute and a half Gambler flight, launch to landing in our gallery http://www.wrightbrothersrc.com/gallery/gambler.htm. It's probably easier to watch that than for me to describe the plane's flight characteristics. The day the video was taken there was a steady 5-7mph crosswind at the field. I flew the Gambler off of some ridge lift a clump of 20' saplings was generating. Typical non-lift flights are closer to the 45-60 second range.

Thank you for your interest, if there are any other questions just post them here and I'll be glad to answer them.

I've been getting several request to sell just my Gambler plans, and I'm considering offering this, but I'd like some input by members here what is the 'usual and customary' price for glider plans these days?

Also, feel free to e-mail me if this would interest you. If I get enough interest it will encourage me to offer plans separate from my kits.

When launching my Gambler one time I accidentally gripped it in front of the spar instead of on top of the spar and cracked the sheeting on the bottom of the wing. Seems like a foam block or a sub-rib in the area where you grip it for launch would help prevent this from happening.

The foam block might weigh too much, especially that far out on the wing. If I were to build another SAL glider with a built-up wing I would definitely make up an extra front of a rib (or two) and put them in the tip area where you grip the wing. What do DLG gliders do to compensate for the extra weight and drag of a launch peg?

Most 1.5 meter planes don't worry about the peg's drag or weight. It's not significant enough to compensate for.

For one fellow club member that I build a Gambler for who is a little heavy-handed, I reinforced the D-tube area where you're likely do miss the grip with some 2-ounce glass cloth. I think the new instructions reccomend this as a possible optional step.

I hope your repair was easy. An additional half-rib might help, I'll consider adding that optional part in the next batch. The 2-ounce cloth reinforcement does work well if you're looking for a solution for your plane.

Received kit!

Got my kit this week. Here's a picture of what comes in the package, including the carbon ribbon. Next post is after I removed everything from the package. I've promised myself to go no further until I finish my taxes!!

Thanks for the nice comments Randy. I've never thought to punch out all the parts and lay them out like that. I always punch them out as I build. Makes it look like a lot more parts the way you show it!